Lobster and Wine
by Spagman13
Summary: An Elliot x gender ambiguous reader story I started on another site and am also running here. Not of the best quality, but I am working on it. Fair warning, the first few chapters really suck!
1. Chapter One

Stepping off the bus, the first thing you noticed was the air. It hit you like a wall, a fresh, pleasant wall of spring air. You were so used to the thick, exhaust filled smog of Zuzu City that you had forgotten that places like this were real. You breathed it in as you stepped off the bus, a small smile on your face. You set your bag down, you hadn't brought much. You looked around at the small town, it looked pleasant and homey. You picked your bag up off the ground and set off for home.

After settling in, unpacking, and planting your first crop, you took on the challenge of meeting everybody. You started at the doctor's office, and made your way through the town. There were three people left to speak to, and only two houses left that you knew of. You were slightly confused at first, but you put your questions in the back of your mind and set off for the house on the beach.

The first two knocks were quiet, it made sense that they were to go unanswered. The third, however, was made loud and clear, and yet still went without notice. You assumed that whoever lived there was not home, and you decided to save this house for later and head to the bait and tackle shop first. You walked in and met a gruff but kind man, whose name was Willy, and you were offered a fishing rod and some fishing tips. After leaving the shop, you noticed another man standing on the dock next to you. He had long, orange hair that shifted lightly in the ocean breeze. He was tall and slim, and he stood facing away from you, looking out onto the sea. You walked to the edge of the dock and began to fish.

After roughly five minutes of standing in the dock, the man beside you sparked up a conversation. " You must be the farmer, I'm Elliott, it's a pleasure to meet you." You simply smiled at him, being too caught up in examining him to really speak. He was handsome, there was no denying that. Bright green eyes shone beneath well groomed eyebrows. He had a slight smirk on his face, and you weren't sure why. He looked... almost smug, but he had no reason to be. He chuckled at your staring and walked off, into the cabin you had knocked at earlier.

Elliott, huh?


	2. Chapter Two

It had been five weeks into the year and you had made two friends. They were barely friends, at that. Acquaintances would be a better description. You best knew Willy and Elliott, Willy because you hung around the shop and fished with him in the early morning when it was still foggy and gray, and Elliott because you had come back to his house to apologized for being so quiet and awkward when you two first met. You had been entranced by his good looks and smug aura. You had learned later that he always looked that way and he really was a good person. You were proud of the friends you had made.

You knocked on Elliott's door. A muffled "come in!" Could be heard through the thick wooden door. You entered and looked around. There was a weathered piano sitting in the center of the back wall, a small bed, and a writing desk scattered with crumpled papers and accentuated with a single red rose in a vase. Elliott noticed you looking at the writing desk and smiled knowingly, if not somewhat bitterly. "Ah, my writing desk. That's usually the first thing people see in here." You looked at him with questioning eyes" What do you write?". He looked down at his desk "I moved to pelican town for a fresh start. You see, ever since I was a boy, I've wanted to be an author. But all I ever heard was 'you can't do something like that'. So I moved to a place where I wouldn't be doubted so often. What kind of book do you prefer?" You smiled lightly " I enjoy sci-fi, I love to think of other worlds."He chuckled, a warm, comforting sound. "Who knew someone so down to earth would have their head in the clouds?" And you grinned, a sight that Elliott stored in his personal memory bank. "Ah, (y/n), while you're here, would you mind taking a look at my rose? I think it may be wilting." You walked over to the rose and examined it. It was fine, you informed him, and you headed for home as the sun set over the horizon.

As the second week of summer approached, your pomegranate tree grew fully. You were sad you would have to wait for fall in order for it to start bearing fruit, but you were also fairly excited to have grown a tree in the first place. It wasn't a large tree, not in the way an oak may be, but it was firm and strong and fairly tall for a fruit tree, and it didn't have to be tall, it just had to bear fruit. Anyways, you had grown the tree only because you had learned through speaking with Elliott that it was his favorite fruit. And you planned to give as many to him as you could.


	3. Chapter Three

The bell above the door echoed throughout the shop, and Willy smiled lightly at you as you sauntered in. He set down his fishing magazine and chuckled as you plopped a small, shimmering bass onto the counter. "That's hardly a fish, kid, you'd be better off tossing that minnow back into the kiddie pool."Willy teased. You grinned at him." Just ring me up Willy, I've gotta go catch more." He smiles and hands you ten gold for the little fish, dropping it in a tank along the counter. While you look around the shop, you notice what looks to be a small cage hanging on the wall to your right. "Hey Willy, what's that cage?" You ask, pointing at the wall. " Crab pots, you want one? They're only 1,000g Willy replied, grabbing one from the back of the shop and setting it down on the counter. You checked your pockets, you had just enough gold. Sliding a pouch of gold across the counter, you grabbed the crab pot, thanked Willy and left.

Rigging the crab pot turned out to be a bit more difficult than expected. You had lugged the heavy pot across the dock and dropped it into the water, which was a mistake because the weights were still attached. After pulling off all the weights, you set it back into the water(it was floating now), and set to tying the rope to the dock. As a farmer, you should have been better at tying knots, but seeing as your efforts had been completely fruitless, you obviously weren't. After almost twenty minutes of grumbling and struggling, you heard a chuckle from behind you. "I think I've seen you struggle for long enough. Fear not, your savior has come." You turned around to see Elliot grinning smugly down at you with his arms crossed. You furrowed your eyebrows and scowled down at the poorly knotted rope. "As if anyone could possibly get this godforsaken rope tied down." You grumbled half to yourself, half to Elliot. He laughed and knelt next to you, undoing the knot and knotting it again swiftly. He looked over at you with a grin, finding you looking down at the well tied knot in absolute awe. "But I did same thing!" You exclaimed as Elliot laughed, standing and helping you up. You smiled lightly at him, it was hard to be angry on such a wonderful day. The sun shone on the soft sand from a cloudless blue sky, warming your skin and shining pleasantly on Elliot's bright orange hair, light catching on different strands of it as it shifted in the soft wind. "Thanks for your help, Elliot. I'll see you later." He said his goodbyes to you, and began to walk back to his cabin. Before he could enter, however, there was a hand on his shoulder, and he turned around to find you there again, looking up at him. "Actually, there's something that I wanted to give you, if you'll come with me." He smiles. "Lead the way, then."

Elliot stood in the shadow of the lush pomegranate tree, looking up at the Ruby red fruits that hung above him, just out of reach. "You just want me to pick one?" He inquired, glancing at you. "Pick a few, I've got plenty. You told me you loved them, anyhow." You smiled at him. He pointed to three ripe pomegranates, and you climbed the tree and picked them. Elliot put them in a bag and left your house with a simple "Thank you once again, my friend."

Did he just call you his friend?

You were definitely gonna brag to your mom about that.


	4. Chapter Four

All of your crops were dead.

You should have expected it, really. Evelyn had sent you a letter that told of how the changing of the seasons would make your old crops die, but you had been dead set on getting that amaranth grown before fall was over. Evidently, it hadn't worked. You kicked the trunk of the nearest tree in frustration, causing a ripe red pomegranate to fall next to you. You needed to eat breakfast anyways.

Chewing on the last few ruby red seeds, you walked out the door with your fishing pole in hand. Fishing had become one of your main sources of money, mostly because you had fished with your grandfather often before he passed. The thought brought back old memories of rolling up your pant legs and wading into the river with your child sized fishing pole, and having your grandpa cast the line for you. You smiled sadly as you crossed the bridge that led you to the beach, missing your grandfather more than ever.

You've never really looked at Elliot's cabin. Well, that's not quite true, you looked at it every day. But you had never noticed the old, dilapidated wooden boat leaning against the side of the house. It sunk half into the sand, and you could see a small crab digging in the sand on the edge of the shadow the boat caused. It hadn't been used in years, that was for sure. You were inclined to ask about it, but you didn't want to wake Elliot up at seven O'clock just to ask if he owned that wrecked boat by his house. That would be ridiculous. Fishing it was, then.

The ocean looked a bit muted in the winter. The gray sky was reflecting on the slightly choppy water, and it made everything look just a bit bleak. It didn't deter you, though, and you seemed to be catching different fish now that fall had ended. It was pleasing, to say the least. You loved fishing, but it was twelve now, and your arms were tired from casting. It was time to see Marnie. But first, lunch.

It occurs to you, as you walk back to the beach to collect shells, that you haven't seen Elliot in a while. The last time you saw him was on the twentieth, at the saloon. And while that was fun, it was more than a week ago. Deciding that it's high time you go to see him, you knock on his door, but there is no response. It sounds like there's music coming from inside. It sounds like classical, but you can't be sure. You think back to a moment in the stardrop saloon, when Elliot told you that you could stop in any time you liked. You were going to take advantage of that now.

Elliot sits on a small piano bench, playing a song that you don't recognize but enjoyed nonetheless. He finishes the song, and you clear your throat just loud enough to catch his attention. "That was wonderful." You say quietly, feeling a little guilty for interrupting him. He smiles in return, and looks down at his slim fingers resting on the keys. "Thank you. I'm not very good, but I enjoy playing." He turns on the bench, facing you with his whole body now. He furrows his brow. "I've been finding writing more and more difficult as of late. It's the biggest case of writer's block I've ever had. He says, looking up to you and smiling. "Sometimes I wish I could be a farmer, like you." You grin at him. "Come live on the farm with me, then, I could use the extra help." You're kidding, or course, but if he said yes you would bring him with you in a heartbeat. He looks surprised for a moment, before he regains his composure. "I couldn't leave my writing now, I'm getting close to finishing." The two of you talk for a little while, and you give him a pomegranate you had in your bag. You look put the window, and you see a harsh rain coming down. "I forgot to close the chicken coop! I'm really sorry, Elliot, but I have to go." You say, running out the door before Elliot can bid you farewell.

he hoped you'd stop by more often.


	5. Chapter Five

Your first year had ended, and you had mixed feelings about your progress. Standing on the porch and surveying your farm, you could see that you had come far. Five days into the second spring, and you had cleared most debris from your riverland farm, and planted a few spring crops in front of your house. You had a large coop with two chickens and a duck, and a barn with two cows milling about within. The leaves on your pomegranate tree had returned, and it looked full and lush in the spring weather. Your farm had come along nicely, but you had expected to get more done.

Your biggest insecurities lied within the townsfolk. Sure, you had friends. You saw Willy and Gunther regularly, and you could confidently joke and talk with them. You had Elliot, of course, but in the spring bustle, you hadn't seen him. You had friends, but you also had people who didn't seem to like you much. George was standoffish, but you assumed he was like that with everyone. Pierre just didn't seem to like you much, but as with Pam, you didn't like him much either. You wanted to try and work a bit harder to make friends this year.

But that hard work had payed off. You had money in the bank, food in the fridge, and a cool looking scar on your stomach from the mines. You had Elliot, who was extremely pleased that his book was almost finished. You we're pleased to see him so happy, as he had been rather stressed while writing. You couldn't wait to read it, you had confidence in his abilities.

Smiling to yourself, you hopped off the porch to fish, but not at the beach this time. You wouldn't want to bother Elliot when he was almost finished.


	6. Chapter Six

A few weeks later, Elliot waltzed out of his cabin with a spring in his step and a handwritten letter in an envelope. Spring was coming to a close, and the air was warm as he stepped out onto the sand. He looked around and noticed something. Whenhe came home last night from the general store, the beach was littered with shells. Now, the light sand was clear of anything, and there was a familiar figure milling through the sand by the docks. He smiled at the farmer, who he had become quite charmed by in recent months. Well, that makes it sound nice and romantic. In reality, he was a mess whenever he saw them, and had just learned to hide it. He has to say hello, and this is a good excuse to see them.

Elliot examined the figure in the sand as he approached. He can't help but notice that the Farmer is tanner and more muscular than they were when they arrived. They complained of being sore from exertion almost every time Elliot saw them, which was almost every day. It was almost routine at this point. Elliot would take a break from writing at about ten, look out his window to see the farmer sauntering up to his door, open it when they knocked, and talk with them for an hour or so. Sometimes, they would bring him a gift, usually a pomegranate or spaghetti. He would certainly never go hungry while they were around.

The more they visited, the more Elliot realized how pleased he was with their company. A knock would sound at his door, and Elliot would jump to open it, a foolish grin on his face. They would laugh, and he couldn't help but laugh as well. He could acknowledge that he had a silly little crush on the quirky farmer, who would come to his house, their arms smeared with mud, holding a live lobster that wriggled and snipped at their hands as they laughed.

He was at least man enough to admit it, he thought to himself. He was interested in them, but too scared to act on it, lest he lose such a wonderful friend. He would rather have a friend than a lover, he would tell himself when he got too hopeful. Even so, there was always a voice reminding him that he could have both, if he was bolder.

He shook these thoughts out of his head, and straightened his mouth as to deter the dreamy smile that was forming as he stopped in front of the farmer, who squinted up at him and grinned despite the sun beating down on their face.

"Hey man, what's up?" Is their greeting, and Elliot finds himself mirroring their smile. He can't help but look at what they're doing with their hands. They follow his gaze down to the object they've been digging at.

"Oh, this? I saw it sticking up from the sand, and I wonder if it isn't something Gunther would wanna see.", They say, focusing back on working the object out from the ground. After a bit of pulling, they pull up something Elliot has never seen before. The farmer looks at it and grimaces.

"Aaaaaaand another chicken statue. Just what I wanted. I can't wait to put those up with the other two I found this week.", They huff. Elliot chuckles at their sour disposition towards the wooden hen standing on the platform. It's really quite nice.

"I could take it for you, if you'd like.". As he says this, they smile at him like a tired parent who just got the offer of someone babysitting their kids for a while.

"Oh thank Yoba, these don't even sell for that much, so I'm glad to get it off my hands." They look up at the sky, and when Elliot goes to see what has distracted them, he sees clouds rolling in from the north. The Farmer sighs, and hands him the chicken statue.

"I shoud go make sure the dog's inside and all. I'll see you later, Elliot."

They turn to leave, and Elliot watches them walk off, rolling his thoughts and feelings towards them around in his head with a vague sort of cowardly frustration.

He's going to have to say something eventually.


End file.
